Posted by cravedogg on 11/20/2012 8:11:00 PM (view original):
Moranis, I know we disagree on this but I think the Big10 is really jumping the gun on going after Rutgers and Maryland. I understand the TV market debate, but adding bigger brands would ultimately be a better move which is why the Big10 added Nebraska before anybody else.
I think Florida State is going to end up in the Big 12 when it is all said and done. I can't speak for Clemson, but could see both Clemson and FSU joining the Big 12.
Sure but what brands exist that at least make some sense geographically? I mean it isn't like Texas, Oklahoma, and Notre Dame were available. So what brand is actually out there.
I suppose one could argue Virginia Tech, but they aren't in the AAU and are much more like Northwestern than the majority of the teams in the Big Ten. They are at least a pretty solid football brand and would add to the D.C. market draw a lot. Virginia, Kansas, and North Carolina are in the AAU and fit a lot better with the type of schools in the Big Ten, but all of their football teams are just as bad as Maryland and in the case of Kansas don't add much in the way of a tv market.
That said I've said for awhile I think the Big Ten's order of preference has always been N.D., Texas, UNC, and Maryland with Rutgers being the default add should one of the other four come in (and just one). If the Big Ten could add North Carolina they would in an instant despite the brand not being worth all that much. Once you get UNC in, I think a team like Georgia Tech would make some sense (huge market, like UNC a AAU school, great recruiting area, etc.).
I think you would then see the Big Ten break out into 4 team pods (I'd do something like this, but who the hell knows what they would do if they went to the 4 pod model) - 1. Penn State, Rutgers, Indiana, Illinois & 2. Ohio State, Wisconsin, Maryland, Purdue, & 3. Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, Georgia Tech & 4. Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, North Carolina. They could then rotate the divisions so two years 1 and 2 are a side of the bracket (the winner would play the winner of 3 and 4 in the Big Ten title game), then 1/3 vs 2/4, and then 1/4 v. 2/3. You go to a 9 game conference schedule and every team has a rival from 1 of the other divisions which you play every year, so that is your 9 games (your own pod = 3 games, the pod you are paired with = 4 games, your rival from the other 2 pods = 2 games). You then match up yearly rivals, so for example the pod 1 teams might have something like this for rivals PSU (OSU, MSU, Iowa), Rutgers (Mary, Ga Tech, UNC), Indiana (Purdue, Mich, Minn), Illinois (Wiscy, NW, Neb) which it would play every single year and every team would play every team in the conference at least 2 times in every 6 year period.